The Atlantic
Pomona College economist Gary N. Smith noted a decline in tenured professors and a sixfold increase in administrators from 1990 to 2022. He suggested eliminating faculty and students to improve colleges’ financial positions. Administrative growth is common in universities, with administrative positions growing 10 times faster than tenured-faculty positions from the early 1990s to 2009. This growth is attributed to increased student diversity, mental health challenges, student loans, college sports, federal regulations, and fundraising needs. However, some argue that many administrative jobs are unnecessary and contribute to rising college costs. The growth of university bureaucracy also shifts power away from instructors and researchers. This bureaucratic growth leads to mandate inflation, creating confusion about the organization’s